Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function | Psychology Today
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by Christopher Bergland
Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function
Musical training before age 7 can benefit brain function for a lifespan.
Published on November 13, 2013 by Christopher Bergland in The Athlete's Way
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Neuroscientists are discovering multiple ways that musical
training improves the function and connectivity of different brain
regions. Musical training increases brain volume and
strengthens communication between brain areas. Playing an
instrument changes how the brain interprets and integrates a
wide range of sensory information, especially for those who
start before age 7. These findings were presented at
the Neuroscience 2013 conference in San Diego.
In a press briefing on November 11, 2013 Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD—who is an expert on music,
neuroimaging and brain plasticity from Harvard Medical School—summarized the new research from
three different presentations at the conference. These insights suggest potential new roles for musical
training including fostering plasticity in the brain; have strong implications for using musical training as
a tool in education; and for treating a range of learning disabilities.
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Playing a musical instrument can cause fundamental changes in a young
person's brain, shaping both how it functions and how it is physically
structured, researchers say. "Listening to and making music is not only an
auditory experience, but it is a multisensory and motor experience. Making
music over a long period of time can change brain function and brain
structure," Schlaug said. City or Zip
Three Brain Benefits of Musical Training:
1. Musicians have an enhanced ability to integrate sensory information
from hearing, touch, and sight.
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2. The age at which musical training begins affects brain anatomy as
an adult; beginning training before the age of seven has the
greatest impact.
3. Brain circuits involved in musical improvisation are shaped by
systematic training, leading to less reliance on working memory and
more extensive connectivity within the brain.
"Music might provide an alternative access into a broken or dysfunctional
system within the brain," said Schlaug. Adding, "Music has the unique
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201311/musical-training-optimizes-brain-function[9/26/2014 1:54:12 PM]
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Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function | Psychology Today
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ability to go through alternative channels and connect different sections of
the brain."
Three New Studies on the Brain Benefits of Musical Training
The first study, conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal,
asked trained musicians and non-musicians to respond to sound and
touch sensations at the same time. Two sounds were delivered at the
same time a person received one touch sensation, which was intended to
create the perceptual illusion that the person actually had received two
touch sensations. Since musicians have to simultaneously work their instrument, read sheet
music and listen to the tones they produce, the researchers predicted that
they would be better at differentiating sound from touch. Their hypothesis
was correct. Non-musicians fell for the perceptual illusion, but musicians
did not, according to researcher Julie Roy from the University of Montreal.
"Musicians are able to ignore the auditory stimuli and only report what
they are feeling," Roy said, adding "that this is solid evidence of an
improved ability to process information from more than one sense at the
same time."
The second study involved brain
scans of 48 adults aged between
19 and 21, who had at least a year
of musical training while growing
up. The researchers discovered
that brain regions related to hearing
and self-awareness appeared to be
larger in people who began taking
music lessons before age 7.
These findings seem to indicate that musical training can have a huge
impact on the developing brain, since brain maturation tends to peak
around age 7, said lead researcher Yunxin Wang, of the State Key
Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning at Beijing Normal
University. Specifically, these areas tended to have more gray matter
leading to a thicker cortex, which is the outer layer of the cerebrum.
The third study found that brain circuitry can be reshaped by musical
training through neuroplasticity. For the study, Swedish researchers
analysed brain function of 39 pianists who were asked to play a special
12-key piano keyboard while having their brain scanned in an MRI. Ana
Pinho, the lead author of the study from the Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm, reported that systematic training actually helped improve brain
areas related to music improvisation. The ability to improvise improved
brain connectivity resulting in less dependence on working memory. “Pianists who were more experienced in jazz improvisation showed higher
connectivity between three major regions of the brain's frontal lobe while
they improvised some music,” said Pinho. “At the same time, they showed
less activity in brain regions associated with executive functions such as
planning and organizing, which could mean that trained improvisers are
able to generate music with little conscious attention or thought,” Pinho
said.
Playing an Instrument Before Age 7 Benefits Brain Architecture for a
Lifespan
The findings presented at the conference are backed by multiple previous
studies. In particular, a January 2013 study titled “Early Musical Training
and White-Matter Plasticity in the Corpus Callosum: Evidence for a
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201311/musical-training-optimizes-brain-function[9/26/2014 1:54:12 PM]
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Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function | Psychology Today
Sensitive Period” published in the Journal of Neuroscience earlier this
year reported that musical training before age 7 helped brain
development. Children who started taking music lessons early had better
connections across the corpus callosum which connects the left and right
hemispheres of the cerebrum.
A variety of studies have suggested that early training might be related to
greater amounts of white matter in the corpus callosum. This study
compared white-matter organization using diffusion tensor imaging in
early- and late-trained musicians matched for years of training and
experience.
The researchers found that early-trained musicians had greater
connectivity across the corpus callosum. Musical training and practice at a
young age improved due to the sensorimotor synchronization required to
play an instrument. They concluded that training before the age of 7 years
results in changes in white-matter connectivity that may serve as a solid
scaffolding upon which ongoing experience can maintain a well-connected
brain infrastructure into adulthood.
My 6-year-old daughter is lucky to
take bi-weekly piano and violin
lessons. In addition to practicing a
musical instrument, my daughter's
daily activities include a broad
range of athletics that bulk up the
gray matter of both hemispheres of
her cerebellum and improve motor
skills. Schoolwork and making art
increases brain volume and connectivity between both hemispheres of her
cerebrum. This combination of activities strenghtens the connectivity
between all four hemispheres of her developing brain which optimizes
brain function.
Some of the brain changes that occur with extensive musical training are
reflected in improved automation of task—much as one would recite a
multiplication table—and the acquisition of highly specific sensorimotor
and cognitive skills required for various aspects of musical expertise.
Conclusion: Musical Training Increases Brain Volume and
Connectivity
"Playing a musical instrument is a multi-sensory and motor experience that
creates emotions and motions—from finger tapping to dancing—and
engages pleasure and reward systems in the brain. It has the potential to
change brain function and structure when done over a long period of
time," according to Gottfried Schlaug. "As today's findings show, intense
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201311/musical-training-optimizes-brain-function[9/26/2014 1:54:12 PM]
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Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function | Psychology Today
musical training generates new processes within the brain, at different
stages of life, and with a range of impacts on creativity, cognition, and
learning," he concludes. "All these findings ultimately could lead to improved therapies for people
with brain injuries or learning disabilities," Schlaug said. Adding, "Music
might provide an alternative access into a broken or dysfunctional system
within the brain. Music has the unique ability to go through alternative
channels and connect different sections of the brain."
If you'd like to read more on this topic please check out my Psychology
Today blog posts:
"Neuroscientists Discover How the Brain Learns While We Sleep"
"Why Do Sleep and Movement Stimulate Creativity?"
"The Neuroscience of Madonna's Enduring Success"
"Decoding the Secrets of Brain Connectivity"
"Video Gaming Can Increase Brain Size and Connectivity"
"Childhood Creativity Leads to Innovation in Adulthood"
"Einstein's Genius Linked to Well-Connected Brain Hemispheres"
"Musical Training Can Improve Brain's Language Skills."
Please follow me on Twitter @ckbergland for updates on The Athlete’s
Way blog posts.
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